James Baldwin Archives and National Library Action Day – Education Town Hall Forum

A large portion of James Baldwin’s personal papers are now accessible to the public through the New York Public Library. Yesterday, the Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture announced acquisition of the author’s personal archive. Baldwin, was born in 1924 and raised near the Schomburg Center in Harlem. (See NYT story.) He died in 1987, and his family has been very conservative in sharing his personal correspondence; some private letters will still remain closed for another 20 years. Meanwhile, the public can now see handwritten notes and unpublished materials as well as photographs, interviews, and audio recordings. Also find some Baldwin materials on-line at Yale.

The Baldwin archive acquisition was financed by foundation gifts and private donations. Like most such institutions, the New York Public Library operates on a combination of private and public funds. In addition to maintaining and sharing its collections, the Library offers seminars and forums, workshops, staged readings and film screenings, performing arts programs, and other events. New York Public Library alone offers some 93,000 free events each year.